Altamirando Carneiro

Palestine, charm and magic

Palestine is located in the region called Near East by the European. It has always been a small country with an area equivalent to Wales, Belgium and Sicily together.

Jerome, one of the "Church Fathers", who lived for a long time near Bethlehem and knew the country well, estimated that its extension from North to the South was not greater than 160 Roman miles, about 145 English miles, the distance, for instance, between Rome and Florence.

The distances are minimal. Referring to the time of Jesus, for example, a trip from Nazareth to Jerusalem could last two days.

The Israelites knew their country well and loved it deeply. Entire Books of the Old Testament, such as the Songs of Solomon, fully express that feeling. The inhabitants of Palestine for over two thousand years (the majority of the population) were convinced that they were not there by chance; that their presence in the country had a meaning; that God had established them in that land.

In Solomon’s time, it was estimated that there was one million inhabitants. In Jesus' time, if we calculate a total of two million, we are being generous.

Thousands of Jews lived outside Palestine. They did not attend the great festivities. Simon, for example, who helped Jesus carry the cross, was born in Cyrene, North Africa; the schools of the Holy City had many students from all the scattered communities.

Among these students, we can mention Saul, son of a tent maker in Sicily, who assiduously attended Rabbi Gamaliel’s speeches and who would become the Apostle Paul of Tarsus.

There was, undoubtedly, at that time, a Jewish emigration. In Greek, the term used to call it was Diaspora, meaning dispersion.

Wherever they were, the Jewish colonies showed the same characteristics. They kept together, were stable, and they lived near each other, though the Greek and Roman authorities did not make such a requirement. In Rome, they lived in different districts.

These communities had special organizations. They were democratic and the material and spiritual matters mingled. In the same meeting there was prayer and political discussions too.

The name of the place where they elected the council of elders and the authority, who would defend the interests of the group, the Ethnarch or the Exarch, was the same as the place where the people sang the Psalms. In Hebrew, this assembly was called Kinneseth; in Greek, Sunagoge, from which comes the term Synagogue.

An occupied country

Palestine was an occupied country. The Romans entirely dominated the country, directly or through their bondmen. At the same time, they followed their customs and allowed the conquered peoples to continue their usual life.

For the Romans and the Greeks, the State represented the essential governing principle. The city-empire or the empire reserved the right to impose rules to subjects according to their interests.

Religion and religious worship was recognized, while they remained as State instruments. It was considered a civic duty, according to the formula established by the State. It was as if Caesar "controlled God." But for the Jews, God controlled Caesar. Due to all this, the Jews at the time of Jesus faced situations where they did not know the limits between the Kingdom of Caesar and the Kingdom of God.

Therefore, we can understand why Jesus' opponents asked Him about the lawfulness of paying taxes to the Roman authorities, to which Jesus replied: "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is of God".

Children were blessings; teaching, excellent

In a Jewish family, the birth of a child was the most important of events, celebrated with festivity to which all relatives, friends and people who lived nearby were invited.

If the child was male, the compliments were quite warm. In case of the firstborn, if male, enthusiasm reached its peak.

Every male child had by law to be circumcised eight days after birth. Some Jews could escape this obligation.

In Jesus' time, circumcision was regarded not only as a mark of the alliance, but considered an act of ritual purification.

During the first week, probably on the day of circumcision, the child was given a name. The right to choose the child's name belonged to his father, the head of household. The name chosen corresponded to our first name. The Jews had no name. This does not mean that the family feeling was not developed.

The son received his father's name - "son of so", ben in Hebrew and bar in Aramaic. Example: John Ben Zechariah, Jonathan Ben Hanan, Yesua Ben Joseph's oldest son usually received the grandfather's name, to continue the tradition of the name and distinguish him from his father.

Education

The child remained in the early years under the care of its mother. Daughters stayed with their mother until the wedding day. They helped in the work of the house, carrying water, weaving and also helped with the work in the field.

The father looked after the children and initiated them in their profession as soon as possible, so that they could work with him, first as apprentices and then as officers.

Education was the father’s responsibility. The Jewish teaching was excellent. The true Israelites gave greater importance to moral education than anything else. It did not mean that the school teaching was despised. The rabbis said it was the basis of everything and absolutely necessary.

The school was connected to the synagogue. Children, rich or poor, attended, when they turned five years old. The basis of education was learning the Torah (or Pentateuch, the name given to the group of the first five books of the Old Testament). In the Bible they studied language, grammar, history, and geography.

This exclusive use of the Scriptures in teaching was the apparent cause for many rabbis to deny girls the right to learn them. But not all rabbis had this point of view. In the Talmud (collection of the Jewish writings, containing explanations and traditions relating to the Law of Moses, written between the third and sixth century AD) there is a Treaty that prevents the entry of girls at school, but this same Treaty says: "Every man should teach the Torah to his daughter". Judging by Mary, the Mother of Jesus, we can understand why many Jewish girls knew the Scriptures as well as their brothers.

Divine Emissary, in the heart of Israel

Jesus was integrated in the Jewish community; his parents obeyed all the requirements of the Law, with respect to His person. His name, Yesua, or Jesus, of which Joshua is another form, means "Yahweh is the solution" or "Yahweh saves us." It was a very old Jewish name, often found in the Bible.

Joshua was named after the famous judge of Israel who, as stated, stopped the sun in its course (of course, this is an allegory). According to Luke, 3:29, one of Jesus' ancestors also had this name.

Jesus' parents had typically Jewish names. The patriarch, the Pharaoh’s administrator, who established Israel in Egypt, was called Joseph; Marya was one of the most common names among Jewish women at the time.

The names of Jesus' relatives were Jewish. John (Yohanan) – the Baptist - his cousin, John's parents: Zechariah and Elizabeth; Anne and Joachim, his grandparents.

The house in which Jesus lived in Nazareth before starting the dissemination of His teachings was a humble dwelling, cube-shaped, like the housing that the Palestinian peasants continued building.

His physical appearance was the one of a Jew, as almost everyone at that time: long hair, beard, it was not a necessary requirement, side curls (whiskers) - a continuation of the hair at the temples and which the Law considered mandatory. His clothes were the clothes worn by everyone. The Gospel tells us of His "seamless robe".

The Messiah

In general, Israel did not recognize Jesus as the expected Messiah. Only a small group followed Him.

The Christ's message had certain influence and it was generally known in Galilee. In the rest of Palestine its impact must have been quite limited.

The Diaspora Jews probably heard of Him casually, through the pilgrims returning from Jerusalem. Most of the Jewish people probably ignored the words of Jesus.

Certainly the public was not very enthusiastic and most of those, who were aware of the events, did not take the story of a Messiah in Israel seriously.

At the time the Messiahs were very common. Between the birth of Christ and the fall of Jerusalem, there were at least six impostors, who thus proclaimed themselves.

Those, who were better informed, would have considered the passage of Jesus on Earth as something more than a common fact, a fait divers, less important than a national event.

Empathy

There was, however, a sense of empathy and enthusiasm for Him among the common people. Luke 19:48 says that "when listening to Him, all the people were overwhelmed”. Lucas was referring, of course, to the crowd, the mob, not the ruling class.

The so-called "miracles" which, according to some, Christ did (we know that all cures are explained scientifically) astonished many, and many became believers after that. But in the eyes of the unbelievers of that time it was no sign that he was the Messiah, because some of the prophets had done wonders, which they called "miracles", because they did not have the ability to explain them.

At the end of His Gospel, John says: "But there are many other things that Jesus did; and if we wrote down each one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written".

The greatest (and only) miracle, which Jesus did, was to have planted the lasting seeds of His Gospel in our hearts - hardened, imperfect, and recalcitrant Spirits that we are.

The passage of Jesus on this Earth was so dazzling that He divided the History of Humanity: before and after Him.

Bibliography:

"Daily life in Jesus' time," Henri Daniel Rops, 1961 Religious Society Issues New Life, SP.